1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to an optical device for guiding radiation from an object scene to a detector containing an alignment device for pivoting the field of view of the detector relative to a predetermined direction, a detector optical unit and an optical articulation for guiding the beam path from the pivoted field of view into the detector optical unit.
Guided missiles are usually equipped with an optical target tracking device containing a homing head at the front tip of the guided missile. By virtue of the, in some instances, extremely high flying velocity for which such a guided missile has to be designed, the front tip constitutes an aerodynamically exposed position in respect of which stringent requirements are made of the design and the structural volume. These stipulations are usually at odds with requirements from missile guidance, which demand, for example, a large optical squint angle, a high optical range of target identification and target tracking and a precise outputting of the target offset.
Published, non-prosecuted German patent application DE 10 2009 029 895 A1, corresponding to U.S. patent publication No. 2010/0327105, discloses a homing head of a guided missile, wherein a prism arrangement forms an optical articulation. When the field of view of the detector of the homing head is pivoted, the prism right at the front of this arrangement together with an input optical unit is concomitantly pivoted with the field of view, whereas the subsequent prisms are stationary in a structurally fixed manner or are concomitantly moved with a rolling frame. This optical articulation is relatively voluminous, however, as a result of the prism construction.
Published, non-prosecuted German patent application DE 10 2008 026 990 A1 discloses an optical articulation which dispenses with the voluminous prisms and achieves a squint angle of 90 to −90 degrees by use of mirrors. However, this arrangement, too, has a relatively large structural size.